Equalizing valve arrangement for packers



May 21, 1940. H. B. ZIEGL ER 2,201,281-

EQUALIZING VALVE ARRANGEMENT FOR PACKERS Filed June 7, 1938 E w w v u m m w m n W H V m. m w. m a a p .H a W 5 5 6 2 "a w g w m m w. a u n a JNVENTOR I4 l-larry'B. Ziey/er ATTORNEY Patented May 21, 19 40 w r I l 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 EQUALIZING VALVE ARRANGEMENT FOB PACKERS Harry B. Ziegler, Odessa, Tex allignor to Hallilaukrltaon Oil Well cementing Company,

Application June 7, 1938, Serial No. z1z.za5

4 Claims. (].166-1) This invention relates to oil well equipment In accordance with the present invention it is and more particularly to an equalizing valve arproposed to provide an equalizing valve assembly rangement adapted for use with packers designed which is similar in some respects to the Dower to be set and subsequently released in awell. equalizing valve and the Hanes equalizing valve Packers are often placed in an oil wellto seal but which is superior thereto in that not only is a conduit to a casing or the wall of the well. the pressure permitted to equalize when the One common use for a packer is in connection tubing-is subjected to lifting strain but which will with a testing tool such as is shown in the U. S. al o enable pump pressure to be exerted beneath patent to Simmons, No. 1,930,987. It is often the pa r t ass t t tu in liftin the sam diillcult once the packer has been seated to red whi h at the Same tim p i d t0 fl w 10 move the same from'the well, due to the differfrom above the packer to a P i n th ence in liquid pressure which may exist above same for more than an instant of time and whenand below it or inside and outside of the conduit v r the pressure a ve th pa k is r at r to which it is connected. To overcome this difliy a D em ned amount than that below the culty it is common practice to employ what is a While the tubing d Decker are being 15 called an equalizing valve. An example of an Pulled p yequalizing valve suitable for this purpose is disrdingly, it is one object of the inv i closed in the patent to Dower, No. 249,228, to devise a equalizing va r pac erswh ch granted November 8, 1881, for Oil well packer. I has certain advantages in operation and which When an equalizing valve of the type showmb will enable a packer to be more easily removed 20 the Dower patent mentioned is employed and the from Welli tubing or other conduit means which carries the It is a f r her object 01' the invention to propacker is lifted the pressure above and below the V a n vel equalizing and p out V lv aspacker is equalized and the only strain to which ii for use in connection with a pa r for an the tubing is subjected is that due to the resist- Oil well. 25

ance of the packer to being unseated. Other objects and advantages reside in certain 11; is common experience t find, however, t t novel features of the arrangement and construethe packer has been firmly stuck in the well and 151011 of Parts, 8 Will be m pp ent from the cannot be released by merely pulling thereon with following description ken n connection with :in all the stress which the tubing is capable of standthe ewemnenyins awin i which: to

lug. This occurs especially in connection with Figure l is a vertical ro sti a i of t hole acker -of t type shown in the a t equalizing valve assembly constructed in accordto Simmons mentioned above, but is also likely ance with the iples of the invention and t happen t th types of packer as w gh illustrating the parts in the position which they When such a condition arises it is desirable to 9.! when a P er connected to the lower end 35 assist the tubing to release the packer by exertthereof is being Seated; d

ing fluid pressure as.by means of a pump in the Fi ure ,2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of space beneath the packer, thus tending to lift the the Same arrangement Shown in Figure 1 but same, where an equalizing valve of t type illustrating the position of the parts when the 40 shown by Dower is employed this is impossible tubing is Subjected to a Strain tending to lift 40 because any fluid forced down through the tubing the p cket. flows outwardly through the equalizing valve and, Referring to the die-Wing in e it w ll be does not exert any pressure differential below n hat the eq alizin V lv assembly there and above the packer. shown includes two telescoping members, the It has already been proposed to overcome this inner n 01 w i h i d i n H and i m 45 last mentioned difllculty'by providing an equaltimes referred to as a. mandrel. The outer teleizing valve arrangement which opens and then' p g member'is P e ab y made of wo p ts closes practically immediately, thereby permitting ted and 3, t e IOWer D being the pressure above and below the packer to provided with astud ll threaded both inside and equalize for a fraction of a second and still per- Outside 80 as o pr vide means for connection to 50 mit fluid pressure to be exerted belowthe packer. mandlel d pp oe Of a rat hole P Such anequalizing valve arrangement is 'disit being understood that the mandrel of the packclosed in the patent to Dean Hanes, No. 2,144,842, er would be threaded into the interior of the stud granted January 24, 1939, for By-pass assembly while the shoe is threaded on the outside thereof. for packers." The parts "and ll of the outer telescoping member are screw threaded together by means of the threads l5. Means is further provided in' the part l3 for preventing relative movement between the two telescoping members, the arrangement illustrated including a dowel pin is adapted to cooperate with a slot l! in the inner teleby the telescoping members just described. One

is commonly referred to as an equalizing valve and consists of a valve body 18 formed at the upper end of the part It of the outer telescoping 1 member, this valve body being adapted to cooperate with a valve seat l9 provided in a coupling member 20 screw threaded to andintegral with the inner telescoping member ii. The member 20 is provided witha screw threaded extension at its upper end to provide means for connecting the whole assembly to drill pipe ortubing. At its lower end the coupling member 20 may be provided with a perforated sleeve 2! which, if used, will prevent cuttings or pieces of rock from entering the valve assembly and interfering with its proper operation.

The second valve associated with and operated by the telescoping members may be referred to as a pump out valve. It consists of a valve body 22 integral with the lower end of the inner telescoping member ll. This valve body is adapted to engage a valve seat 23 provided on the lower end of the part I3 of the outer telescoping member.

It will be seen that the equalizing valve and thepump out valve just described are both operated by relative movement between the telescoping member, the equalizing valve being closed when the members are fully telescoped together while the pump out valve is open at this time and the pump out valve being closed and the equalizing valve opened when the telescoping members are pulled apart or extended as far as they will go.

It will also be seen that the equalizing valve and the pump out valve constitute means for moving the outer telescoping membereither to set or release the packer. When the drill pipe is set down the member 20 engages the top of the-part valve when the telescoping members are extended and thence to the interior of the inner telescoping member ll through a hole or port 24 therein.

As shown in the drawing the inner telescoping member I I is provided with a central passageway 25 into which the hole or port 24 opens. lower end of this passageway is closed by means of a one-way or check valve consisting of a. valve I body 26 adapted to seat, under the influence ofa spring 21 against the valve seat member 28 screw threaded to the lower end of the inner telescoping member ll. e

The inner telescoping member I l is also pro- Thevided with a longitudinally extending bore 29 which acts as a choke but which is open at all times for the passage of fluid between the drill pipe or tubing connected to the upper end of the assembly by means of the coupling member 20 and the mandrel of the packer connected to the interior of the stud M at the lower end of the assembly. The bore29 may pass straight through from one end to the other of the telescoping member H but it is preferable to make this member of several pieces and join them together in which case the bore need not necessarily be straight and maybe as illustrated in the drawing,

In one form of the invention (and this isthe form illustrated) the inner telescoping member H is made of one piece, the bore 29 being formed by cutting a longitudinal slot therein and then welding a curved cover plate thereover.

From the above description, it will be apparent that the equalizing valve assembly may be operated as follows: With drill pipe or tubing connected to the upper end thereof and with a packer connected to the lower end, the apparatus is lowered into a well. If the packer is of the rat hole type as soon as it rests upon the rat hole shoulder the parts will assume the position shown in Figure l and the packer may be firmly seated due to the weight of the drill pipe or tubing being transmitted to the packer through the assembly, this pressure being transmitted through the parts I8 and IQ of the equalizing valve as described above. If the assembly is used in connection with aformation tester, the tester valve may then be opened and fluid conducted from a point beneath the packer'upwardly through the choke bore 29 of the equalizing valve assembly and into the drillpipe above the formation tester,

I it being understood that in such case the tester valve will be above the equalizing valve assembly shown in the drawing. The tester valve may the inner bore 25 of the inner telescoping member I I, and to a point beneath the packer through the valve 26, this valve opening (as shown in dotted line in Figure 2) whenever the pressure within the bore 25 is greater than that beneath the valve 26 by an amount suflicient to overcome the efiect of the spring 21.

- Assuming now, however, that even after the pressure above and below the packer has been equalized, the operator is still unable to remove the packer from the well, fluid pressure may be exerted beneath the packer. It will be understand that unless the well has been flowing through the drill pipe or tubing this is only an emergency measure where the equalizing valve andpacker are used in connection with a formation tester and that the entrapped sample above the testervalve will be lost or contaminated if it becomes necessary to exert pump pressure as an'aid to releasing the packer.

In exerting pump pressure the operator will open the tester valve and force fluid under pressure downwardly intothe well, pressure of this fluid being transmitted through the choke bore sponsor member II, the valve! will close. For this reason, no fluid can be transmitted from the drill pipe to the exterior of the telescoping members except around the bottom of the packer, even though the drill pipe or tubing is subjected to a lifting force or strain at all times. Should the operator cease pumping and attempt to spud or move the apparatus up and down to aid in releasing the packet, the valve 26 will open whenever the pressure above the packer is greater than that below it, and will close whenever the pressure beneath the packer is greater than that above it. The action is thus such as to materially aid in releasingthe packer.

, While only one embodiment of the inventio has been shown and described herein, it is obvious that various changes may be made in the arrangement and construction of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope. of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1'. An arrangement adapted for use in connection with'a packer for oil wells or the like comprising an inner conduit member and an outer conduit member telescoped together, said members having a valve arrangement associated therewith for controlling the flow of fluid around or through the telescoped portions oi said members, said arrangement including an equalizing valve operated by relative movement between said members and adapted to close when said members are fully telescoped and open when said members are extended, a pump out valve also operated by relative movement between said members and adapted to close when said. members are extended and open when said members are fully telescoped, said members having a passageway therein for conveying fluid from the exterior to the interior of said members when the a same are extendedto open the equalizing valve said assembly including conduit members telescoped together and serving as means for connecting tubing or drill pipe to the packer, said conduit members having an equalizing valve, a pump out valve and a check valve associated therewith for controlling flow of fluid around or through the telescoped portions thereof, means associated with said equalizing valve to conduct fluid from the exterior to the interior of said conduit members when said equalizing valve is open, said equalizing valve and said pump out valve being operated by relative movement between said members and said check valve providing means for limiting the flow of fluid through said equalizing valve and said conducting means from the exterior to the interior of said members when said equalizing valve is open and said pump out valve is closed.

3. An equalizing valve assembly for use in connection with a packer for oil wells or the like including two conduit members telescopically connected together, means for preventing fluid from flowing from the exterior to the interior of said members when said members are fully telescoped together, means for conducting fluid from the exterior to the interior of said members when the members are in extended position, said fluid conducting means having a check valve therein for preventing fluid from flowing therethrough from the interior to the exterior of said members.

4. An equalizing valve assembly for use in connection with a packer for oil wells or the like. said assembly including a centrally disposed mandrel having an open passageway therethrough and having connecting means at its upper end, a member telescoped upon said mandrel and having connecting means at its lower end, conduit means for conducting fluid from the exterior to the interior of said assembly, a

valve operable by relativemovement between said mandrel andsaid member for opening or closing said conduit means and a check valve in said conduit means for preventing fluid flowing therethrough except from the exterior to the interior of said assembly.

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